Stenotrophomonas maltophilia causing Gradenigo’s syndrome

Abstract

We report Stenotrophomonas maltophilia as a cause of Gradenigo’s syndrome, a rare complication of suppurative otitis media (OM). The clinical triad of sixth nerve palsy, OM and pain in the distribution of trigeminal nerve constitute the diagnosis of Gradenigo’s syndrome. Common organisms that have been recovered include; Group A Streptococcus, Pneumococcus, Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Our aim is to report the first case of Gradenigo’s syndrome caused by S. maltophilia, an aerobic, non-fermentative, Gram-negative bacterium which causes uncommon but difficult to treat infections in humans. Rare pathogens such as S. maltophilia should be included in the differential diagnosis of organisms causing complicated non-responding OM even if the host is immunocompetent.

Keywords

S. maltophilia - Gradenigo’s syndrome - otitis media